Page 69 of Crazy Rich Cajuns

“What else?”

He looked uncomfortable.Kennedy stirred the grits.

“Charles?”

“Yeah?”

“These are going to be the best grits you’ve ever tasted.And they’re going to make you feel better.”

“Okay.”

“Or…they’re not.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you tell me about Bennett and his dad, or…you’ll regret this breakfast more than you’re regretting the vanilla vodka.”

Charles narrowed his eyes.“You’re threatening a governor?”

“No one will be able to prove a thing.”

He slowly smiled.“I’m guessing you’ve gotten revenge on a couple of brothers over the years?”

“And cousins and a grandfather,” she confirmed.

Charles blew out a breath.“Okay.But only because it smells amazing.”

Kennedy smiled.One thing she was sure of—she was a hell of a cook.

“Bennett always planned to follow in his father’s footsteps.Law practice, public office, all of that,” Charles said.

Kennedy pretended to be busy cooking.The truth was, she could have made all of this in her sleep.She couldn’t begin to count the pieces of bacon she’d fried over the years in her grandma’s bar and restaurant.

“But when Bennett was a senior in college, almost done with his political science degree and applying to law schools, someone sent him a packet of information about his father.”

“Someone?Who?”Kennedy asked.

“It’s never been confirmed,” Charles said, studying his tomato juice.

Kennedy watched him for a second.“What was the information?An affair or something?”

Charles looked up.“About ten years before, his father had defended a company that was knowingly polluting some of the rivers and streams.It was a big chemical company and his dad got very rich.”

“He won in court?”

“He did.More than he lost, anyway.”

Kennedy frowned.

“By Bennett’s senior year, his dad was in the Senate,” Charles went on.“The materials also showed how that company, and others, helped fund his campaign and several pieces of legislation that his father had introduced and voted for that were helping those companies.”

Kennedy saw where this was going.“Bennett had no idea?”

“No.”

“What happened?”

“The packet contained tons of stories—many that had been buried—about how the pollution had affected wildlife and communities.Kids who had gotten sick.The immense cost of cleaning it up, which the communities and state governments were stuck paying for rather than the chemical companies.”

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